Every Wednesday after school, middle schoolers gather at the Main Library for tea and snacks with their friends and a couple of trusted adults. It’s called Tea Talk, and it’s a time for everyone to talk about mental health and emotions.
This mentoring group, now in its second year, draws about 10-15 kids each week, says Janea Kitchen, the library’s Middle School Programming Specialist who runs the program along with a staff member from Oak Park Township Youth Services.
This school year, the group is drawing on the popular movie Inside Out 2 to focus on mental health and talk about a range of emotions.
“I don’t think we all realize how many emotions we go through in one day,” says Kitchen, who’s known to the kids as Ms. Jay.
‘It’s not just me. I’m not just by myself’
Tea Talk runs 4:30-5:30 pm each Wednesday. The first student to arrive gets to spin a wheel of emotions. Whatever emotion the wheel lands on—for example, fear, disgust, joy—is the one everyone discusses that week.
With her background in counseling, Ms. Jay says she focuses on scenarios that are realistic to the students, plus problem-solving.
Together, they break down each emotion. They define it and talk about how you might show it through actions, speech, and body language. Using examples from their lives, they discuss how your reactions may make you and others feel in certain scenarios, including what you might do differently next time.
Ms. Jay says she has seen kids really open up during these discussions.
“It’s important to see peers your age share their opinions and feelings, to see that someone who may be the toughest kid in the class is having similar emotions to you,” she says. “You know, it’s not just me. I’m not just by myself.”
And, as one student puts it: “I like Tea Talk because there’s tea and snacks and I like Ms. Jay.”
